33 Heavens
33 Heavens is where the novel Martial World is set, and each 'heaven' is as vast and huge, some even greater, than the Divine Realm. This gargantuan multi-realm was formed after the Shattering of the Demon World 100 billion years ago. The 33 Heavens was later formed approximately 20 billion years ago. Overview In this universe there were celestial bodies, there was space and time, there were mountains, rivers, lakes, birds and beasts, bugs and plants. There were mortals without the strength to chop a chicken and there were martial artists that could move mountains and churn seas. The endless vicissitudes of life, all of the world’s laughter, anger, sorrow, happiness, love, hate, despair, hope, countless births and countless deaths continued in this world. The laws of the jungle where the strong eat the weak, the evolution of the universe where celestial bodies can change, all of this left one feeling drowned in the endless mysteries of the vast and infinite universe. In front of the universe, a simple human was as unimportant as a mote of dust. And all of this was composed of these most basic particles. And, the force that controlled the arrangement and interactions of these particles were the Source Laws of the universe. Metal, wood, water, fire, earth, thunder, wind, time, space, light, darkness, life, death… everyone and everything that existed in this universe corresponded to the Laws. When one’s understanding of Laws reached the peak, that was when they could touch upon the very source of the universe! However, within these Laws, the most basic types were limited in number. But in fact, when they were combined together, they were ever-changing with limitless variations. A simple word of complex wasn’t enough to describe them. Through countless years there had been an unimaginable number of supreme elders who had unceasingly perceived these Source Laws, in the hopes that they could identify the essence of the universe’s truths and become an immortal king. However, the so-called peak of martial arts continued to remain clouded in mist, impossible to understand! If there was really someone that could comprehend all the Laws and rules that governed this universe, they could exist beyond the cycle of samsara and become a true god of the world. History Within the 33 Layered Heavens, the three races with the most individuals are – the human race, saint race, and soul race. Among them, humanity primarily cultivates the essence gathering system, the saints primarily cultivate the body transformation system, and the spiritas primarily cultivate the soul forging system. These three races have existed for a long time. In the endless years of the past, each race has had their own golden era where they shined the brightest. The human race also prospered once, flourishing in brilliant splendor and even occupying half the territories within the 33 Layered Heavens. 10 billion years ago, the three great races of humans, saints, and spiritas were by no means the rulers of the world. Rather, they could be called extremely weak and small races. The ones who ruled in that era were the various ancient races. The kings of these ancient races could destroy the heavens and annihilate the earth just by raising their hands. And in that time when many ancient god kings existed together, the monster race’s unrivalled Monster Emperor was equally able to dominate his own region. However, as time passed, far too many great elites and supreme elders rose up from the ranks of the ancient races. These powerful figures started countless wars, and whenever the God Lamenting Wall weakened, the entire 33 Heavens would be drowned in the flames of war. Yet there was nothing that could withstand the erosion of time. Slowly, the ancient races declined. The monster race was far luckier; at least they survived until the present. And now for the last several billions of years, the 33 Heavens had become the world of the spiritas, saints, and humans. But as more time passed, of these three great races, humanity also began to slowly decline. In particular, in the great calamity 3.6 billion years ago humanity had suffered a catastrophic attack. Only the Divine Realm, under the leadership of Empyrean Divine Seal, had been able to obtain an arduous victory, managing to continue until now. Samsaric Rule of the 33 Heavens It was clear that the martial arts civilization was at its most glorious 10 billion years ago. At that time, it was likely that all 33 Heavens were fully developed. But afterwards, due to certain reasons, many ancient races declined and even went extinct. The martial arts civilization devolved into its early stages and had to be redeveloped from the start. Now, the masters of the current era were far inferior in quality and quantity to those of 10 billion years ago. Perhaps as time passed, the spiritas would really be able to restore the martial arts civilization to the golden age of 10 billion years ago. But perhaps after that, they might also wither away. To rise, to fade, and then to begin the cycle once more, that seemed to be a kind of Heavenly Dao rule. Facing such a great rule, even peerless characters like the Asura Road Master and the creator of the Holy Scripture were unable to prevent it. Origins There are many theories concerning the evolution of the 33 Heavens. Some of them believe that the world originated from the design of a supreme creator god. There were also rumors concerning the spirit world being the originator of the real world. The truth was that the spiritual world and real world were never clearly distinguished to begin with. In fact, there were even some spiritas martial artists who theorized that the current 33 Heavens was nothing more than a dream of a sleeping creator god. But it was revealed that the 33 Heavens was the successor to a past world that faced a universe-ending great cataclysm. This past world was of the Abyss Devil. It was also revealed that the martial arts civilization was born 20 billion years ago, being that 10 billion years ago was the golden age of martial arts. 'Heavens' Occupied Realms There are a total of 16 Heavens that are occupied by intelligent life. * Seven Heavens for the spiritas, comprising the Soul World. * Seven Heavens for the saints, comprising the Saint Realm. * A single Heaven for humanity, comprising the Divine Realm. * A single Heaven for the numerous ancient race, comprising the Primeval Ruins Realm. Wild Universe Of the 33 Heavens, many of them are gaping deathtraps or wildernesses. Some of them have chaotic Laws, some of them have thin origin energy, and some of them are even filled with powerful vicious beasts – all of these problems are the ongoing consequences left behind by the great wars of the hundred races from ancient times. But the truth is that this isn’t a problem. Chaotic Laws can be sorted and straightened out, thin origin energy can be nourished and revived, and vicious beasts can be slain. However, the key factor is that for these universes, the God Lamenting Wall that separates the Heavens hasn’t weakened much, even during the last cycle of samsara 3.6 billion years ago. Because of this, it is difficult for anyone besides a True Divinity to enter the other Heavens. Thus, whether it is the saints or spiritas, it is difficult for any influence to expand into them and this is the reason that they are currently isolated. However, in the future there will definitely be races that rely on their background to slowly expand throughout the entire 33 Heavens. The known heavens are: Human Race * Divine Realm - Located in 1 heaven ** God Beast Mystic Realm ** Red Desolate Mystic Realm * Wild Universe - the recently occupied heaven Saint Race - 7 Heavens * Saint Convocation Heaven * Primeval Universe - 1 heaven (cp1862) - Under the saints ** God Race ** Celestial Race Spiritas - 7 heavens * Dreamsoul Heaven Other Heavens * Extreme Emperor Heaven * Sky Zenith Heaven Category:Locations